Fishing tool for use in deep wells



April 20, 1954 w. H. MlDDLEToN :TAL 2,675,879

FISHING TOOL FOR USE IN DEEP WELLS Filed April 21, 1952 ai@ 3f PatentedApr. 20, 1954 FISHING TOOL FOR USE IN DEEP WELLS William H.

Middleton,

Seminole, Tex., and

Versales Dale Miller, Hobbs, N. Mex., assignors of seventy-five per centto Richard Bird, Lovington, N. Mex., and twenty-iive per cent to saidMiller Application April 21, 1952, Serial No. 283,428

(Cl. 16B-19) 2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to the class of wells and is directedparticularly to improvements in fishing tools for use in deep Wells suchas oil wells and the like.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a shing toolby means of which various pieces or bits of tools or other materialsgenerally termed junk may be readily removed from a well with relativeease.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clean out tool orfishing tool, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, by means of whichsand cavings and shale can first be removed from tool parts or otherjunk in the bottom of the well and such junk then picked up for removal,in the one operation of running the tool into the well.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a fishing tool, inthe manner as hereinafter set forth, by means of which a strong reverserlow of fluid can be created through the tool to eiect the picking up ofthe junk pieces from the bottom of the well, by means of an expansiblepacker which eiiectively seals the space between the tool and the wallof the well hole.

A still further object of the invention is to provide, in a manner ashereinafter set forth, a iishing tool of the character stated whereinthe sealing packer is so constructed and arranged that it can bemaintained in contracted condition when the tool is being run into thewell and then expanded after the tool has reached the position where itis to be held while the washing operation is being carried out, as aresult of which the tool can be introduced into the well and removedmany times without damaging the packer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description of the same proceeds and the invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of thespecification, with the understanding, however, that the invention isnot to be limited Vto the exact details of construction shown anddescribed since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled inthe art.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View through a tool constructed inaccordance with the present invention, the same being shown in a wellhole with the sealing packer in expanded condition and the central fluidpassage through the tool closed.

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 2--2 ofFigure 1.

iss

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken substam tially on the line 3--3of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the tool.

Figure 5 is a detail section illustrating the mounting of a springfinger.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing the numeral IU generallydesignates a well hole in which the tool is kshown in the position whichit occupies after the initial operation of removing sand and shale fromabove the tool pieces has been completed and the tool is ready foroperation to wash up and catch the tool pieces or junk.

As illustrated the tool comprises a lower cylindrical portion which maybe generally dened as a foot piece, generally designated I2. This footpiece is externally of two diameters, comprising the lower part I4 oflargest diameter and the upper part I6 of smaller outside diameter. Thelower part I4 has the downwardly opening chamber i8 which leads upwardlyand connects with the central passage 2li which leads through the upperpart, the top end of the upper part I6 being slightly dished asindicated at 22 for the purpose hereinafter pointed out.

At the line of connection between the upper and lower parts I4 and I6 ofthe foot portion there is formed the shoulder 24 and above this shoulderthe upper part I6 has formed in the outside wall thereof the encirclingchannel 26.

The lower part I4 of the foot portion is externally screw threaded asindicated at 28 and has threaded thereon the cylindrical cutting head36, the bottom edge of which is provided with the cutting teeth 3l asillustrated. This cutting head has the upper inside portion of slightlyenlarged diameter forming the inside recess 32 and the shoulder 33 atthe bottom of the recess and positioned within the recess 32 and restingupon the shoulder 33 are the two concentric rings 3s.

The rings 3c have fixed to the inner surfaces thereof, as shown inFigure 4, a plurality of upwardly and inwardly directed spring iingers35. Any suitable means may be provided for securing these lingers inposition but the means here shown comprises the forming of an upturnedend portion 35a at the lower end of each finger, which is posiu tionedagainst the inner surface of the ring 34 and secured thereto by suitablescrews 36 or in any other suitable manner.

It will be readily apparent that these rings converge inwardly andupwardly and they are so constructed that pieces of material washed upfrom the bottom of the well hole can move upwardly'past the fingers intothe chamber I8 but will be prevented from dropping back into the holewhen the tool is withdrawn.

It is also to be pointed out that while the illustration shows two rings34 one upon the other, the invention is not restricted to this specificconstruction since a single ring or more than two rings may be used iffound desirable.

In the upper part of the chamber |18 and extending across and bridgingthe same, there is fixed a screen insert 3l which, as will be readilyapparent, functions to permit the upward flow of uid from the chamber I8and prevent the passage oi parts of tools or other matter upwardly sothat the passage 20 and the hereinafter described. flow passages, willnot be blocked.

The foot portion I'2 has formed longitudinally through the upper part I6the wash passages 38 which are preferably four in number as shown inFigure 2 and which at their lower ends are directed laterally to openthrough the outer wall of the lower part Ill below the shoulder 2liwhile the upper ends of the passages SS open through the dished top end22 of the part I6.

En addition to the passages 38 the foot portion l2 has formed thereinthe longitudinally extending reverse flow passages or bores 33 which arealso preferably four in number and which open at their lower ends intothe upper part of the chamber I8 above the screen wail 3l' while attheir upper ends they are directed laterally outwardly through the wallof the upper part I adjacent to the upper end of the latter.

In addition to the two passages 3S and 39 the iirst being termed thewash passage and the second the reverse ow passage or bore, the footportion I2 has extending downwardly through the upper part It from andopening through the dished top end portion 22, the packer supplypassages d which may also be four in number as shown in Figure 2 andwhich, in the plane of the channel 26 are directed laterally at theirlower ends to open into the channel as illustrated in Figure l.

The top end of the upper part le is externally screw threaded asindicated at di whereby the loot portion has detachably connectedtherewith ie top or head portion which is generally designated 42. Thishead portion comprises a lower part which is of the same outsidediameter as the lower part ld of the foot portion and which ischainbered in its lower end as indicated at d4 to receive the threadedupper end of the part I5 of the foot portion whereby the head and footportions are coupled together.

The lower part 3 of the head portion joins the long neck portion i5which is of smaller outside diameter than the portion 3 as shown andwhich has the longitudinal huid passage 6 formed therethrough.

The upper end of the neck portion terminates in the coupling IW which isinternally screw threaded to facilitate the attachment thereto of thelower end oi a drill pipe, a portion of which is shown and designated63.

At the top of the part i3 of the head portion external screw threads ilare formed and surrounding and threadably connected with the portion 43and extending longitudinally of and in spaced relation with the neck 45is a cylindrical wall 5i). The major portion of this wall is spaced fromthe Wall of the neck 45 thereby providing a receptacle or basket,designated 5I in which sand, shale or small bits of junk may collect inthe manner hereinafter described. The lower 4 part of the wall 50 hasuid escape apertures 52 therethrough for obvious reasons.

Resting upon the shoulder 24 and encircling the Lipper part I6 of thefoot portion, and also threadably joined thereto as indicated at 53, isa bottorn packer ring 511` to which is joined the bottom edge of apacker sleeve 55 which is formed of suitable heavy rubber and whichencircles the area of the part IB in which the channel 26 is formed.

The top edge of the packer sleeve 55 is joined to a top packer ring 56which encircles the upper end of the part I6 and is secured againstrotation by a key 51 which connects it with the part I6 as shown.

The upper ring 56 has formed therein upwardly and outwardly directedflow passages 39a which align with the upwardly directed outlet ends oi'the reverse flow passages or bores 39 and the key 57 prevents the ring5t from getting out of position so that these passages are kept inalignment.

ln the operation of the present tool, when it is run into the well holeIG the packer is in contracted condition as indicated in dotted lines inFigure l so that it will not be damaged by ccntact with the wall of thehole.

If it is necessary to remove sand from the lower part of the well beforethe tool pieces can be brought up into the chamber I8, the fishing toolcan be dropped to the bottom so that the cutting head penetrates thesand and the tool can then be rotated as may be necessary to loosen upthe material after which washing fluid is forced down through the drillpipe to pass down through the passages 2d and it to the bottom of thehole.

This uid will then flow back up through the well around the outside ofthe tool and the sand, shale or other small particles of material willbe caught or trapped in the basket 5I which surrounds the upper end ofthe tool.

After this preliminary cleaning action has been completed the next stepcan be carried out without removing the tool from the well hole, whichstep is the picking up or trapping of the tool pieces from the bottom ofthe well in the cham-ber I8.

Before proceeding to the performance of this operation a heavy ball plug60 is dropped down through the drill pipe and through the passage ontothe top 22 of the part I6 where it will settle in the upper end of thepassage 20 as illustrated in Figure l to close the latter.

rFhe wash fluid is then forced down through the drill pipe and some ofit will pass down through the wash passages 33 to ilow out into the wellhole Ibelow the packer while a portion of the fluid will flow downthrough the packer supply passages 4l) and out into the channel 26 toexpand the packer against the wall of the well hole as illustrated inFigure l. W ith the well hole thus sealed oil the wash fluid which hasentered the lower part of the well by way of the passages 38 will flowaround under the lower end of the tool, the latter having been lifted tothe proper extent, and sweep up through the chamber I8 to return by wayof the reverse flow passages or bores 39 to the well hole above thepacker 55.

The passages 3e, Se and lli! are of different diameters as clearly shownin Figures 3 and 4. The reverse flow passages 3@ are of largest diameterwhile the passages of intermediate size are the wash passages 33 whilethe packer supply passages d are of smallest size.

The upward sweep of the water entering the well hole below the packer byway of the passages 38 and owing around and up through the chamber I8will cause small pieces of the tool and other material in the hole whichis to be removed, to be forced upwardly past the flexible iingers 35.The screen wall 31 stops the particles from passing up into the passages39 and the spring fingers prevent the particles from falling back intothe hole. Thus when the wash fluid has been circulated in this mannerfor a predetermined period of time, the ytool may be withdrawn so as toremove the pieces of junk which may have been picked up and for thecleaning out of the basket 5I around the upper part of the tool. f

From the foregoing it will be apparent that there is provided by thepresent invention a fishing tool of maximum efliciency by means of whichthe performance of the two separate operations of rst removing the sandand shale from the bottom of the hole and then picking up and removingthe broken tool pieces and other material, can be accomplished withtheone insertion of the tool into the well hole whereas with cleaning andfishing tools of the character at present in use these two operationshave to be performed in two separate steps, that is, one tool must beinserted and employed for removing the sand and other material of thatcharacter and after the iirst tool has been withdrawn a second tool isinserted for shing up the broken tool pieces from the bottom of thewell.

The present tool has for a further advantageous feature that it can berun in various size holes by changing only the cutting head 30. Forexample, if the operator is fishing for bit cones that have been lostoff of a "Z3/8 inch bit he would use a 7 inch overall diameter head orif he wanted to iish a bit cone from a 7% inch bit he would put on alarger head so that the large cone would get up inside above theresilient fingers. In using these different size heads it would not benecessary to vuse a larger upper part for the tool as it is constructedso that the packer will seal off in several diierent sizes of holes.present tool effects the saving of material and accordingly saves theoperator money in view of the fact that one tool will do the job whichheretofore has required the use of three or more tools of differentsizes.

We claim:

1. A tool for fishing up junk from the bottom Thus it will be seen thatthe of a well hole comprising an elongate body divided into a footportion and a head portion, the foot portion comprising a lower part ofcircular form and an elongate upper part of smaller diameterI and havingan encircling recess therein and external screw threads around its topend, said foot portion further having a central passage opening at itslower end into a downwardly opening chamber in the lower part, said headportion comprising a lower part of the same outside diameter as that ofthe lower part of the foot portion and a reduced neck part terminatingat its top in a pipe coupling, said Cil head portion having a centralpassage opening at its lower end into an internally threaded enlargementin which the threaded top end of said elongate upper part is secured, anexpansible packer sleeve encircling the said upper part of the footportion and secured thereto at itsV top and bottom edges respectivelyabove and below said encircling recess, means for closing the top end ofthe passage in the said upper part, wash fluid passages extending fromthe top of said upper part and opening through the outer wall of thelower part of the foot portion below the packer, packer fluid supplypassages extending from the top end of said upper part to and openinginto said recess, said wash and supply passages communicating at theirtop ends with the passage in the head portion when the top end of thecentral passage in the foot portion is closed, return flow passages inthe foot portion leading from the upper part of the chamber thereinthrough the outside wall thereof above the packer, and resilient fingerelements in said chamber for trapping and holding material washedthereinto.

2. The invention according to claim 1, in combination with a secondmaterial trapping means comprising a cylindrical wall encircling thelower part of the said neck of the head portion and secured to the lowerpart of the head portion and forming an upwardly opening basket abovethe outlet ends of said return ow passages.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,164,195 Waltermire June 27, 1939 2,550,080 Moore Apr. 24,1951 i 2,550,228 Costin Apr. 24, 1951

